Fulani Cattlemen: Tradition Versus Reality in An Unjust Country

                                             Fulani herdsman with cattle

 

Probably not a week passes in Nigeria, without news of Fulani herdsmen's wanton disregard for lives and property. Fulani herdsmen, who appear to have grown sophisticated, by acquiring modern weapons, kill without mercy and sometimes burn down whole villages in well-coordinated revenge missions. If your picture of the Fulani is that of a harmless, simple, strangely attired youth with radio to the ear, and rod across the shoulder, you are wrong. These guys travel with Kalashnikovs these days and are not afraid to use it. They have caused untold havoc in the mainly Christian areas of the north [southern Kaduna, Plateau, Benue and Taraba states]. Southern states such as Enugu, Oyo and Ogun have also been affected as well. The common trend is that, cows are deliberately allowed to graze on cultivated lands, and when challenged, cattlemen respond with ruthless brutality. In Nigeria, in this century, given how much research and knowledge abounds about grazing reserves or creation of cattle ranches, it is strange that the barbarism of cattle herders still exists.

A few of days ago, Chief Olu Falae, a respected former state official and his workers were crudely beaten and Falae abducted from his farm with a reported 100 million Naira demanded for his release. Now, Ondo state lies far away, from where you would commonly expect a Fulani man to graze his cattle and pretend to own the land. But obviously, the ubiquity of this itinerant menace is total. Successive governments in Nigeria have been reticent or permissive of marauding Fulani cattlemen and their murderous antics on settled populations. They have been implicated as readily available stormtroopers in the jihadist subjugation of indigenous populations, particularly in Plateau, Kaduna and Benue states. As at today, there are still frequent clashes and whole-scale killings perpetrated by Fulani cattlemen on weak, isolated, indigenous populations in these states. Naturally, one would expect government officials from these states to champion the cause of their people at the national level, but because they eat at the same table with Hausa-Fulani oligarchs in government, they pretend all is well and are afraid of speaking out - or at best, ask their people to forgive their enemies! Though it is speculated that the Fulani cattlemen who attacked Falae and his workers were merely acting as hatchet men for some other sinister forces, the message of the attack was clear - the Fulani man owns the land and Chief Falae was in the way. Who knows where the money being asked for would end up? With Boko Haram?

At the inception of the present government, a group of northern governors convened a rescue mission for stolen cattle and later boasted of recovering thousands of cattle from thieves in Kaduna state. This showed the extent of power and influence of the cattle rearing population in the affairs of the country [Miyetti Allah anyone?]. Considering the seriousness the effort received; at both state and federal level, so early in the administration, you will think cattle rustling was a more serious problem facing the country than health, education and provision of basic infrastructure for Nigerians. For good measure, nothing was said about the concerns of long-suffering farmers who provide the bulk of the food consumed by Nigerians using methods that were obsolete more than three hundred years ago. 

Historically, there are known cattle routes known locally as labi, but probably because of the sparser population in the past, there was no significant contact with settled farmers. But with increase in population and the need to grow more food, it was inevitable that cattle routes and farmlands are bound to cross each other. However, the potential conflicts that could result between farmers and cattlemen should have been foreseen and laws put in place to limit them. As far as the Fulani cattle-herders are concerned, the cattle routes are non-negotiable, at least not for something as trifling as farmlands, because their ancestors used the same routes and the animals are Naira on hooves. A Fulani man once suggested that his people own the right to all 'grazing lands' [forget the people] from Sudan to Cameroun and beyond. 

It is obvious, that these men do not understand the limitations of state borders - or what respect for the rights of others entails. The Fulani also have the 'good fortune' of being pampered because their kinsmen dominate the socio-political paradigm of the countries some of them call home.  It is therefore difficult to change their perception without a vigorous pursuit of a more equitable and forceful implementation of land use laws that protects the rights of everyone - irrespective of what ancestral scars blights their present sense of justice.

Other news: 

 The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki has been dragged to the code of conduct bureau on charges of falsifying asset declaration forms as governor of Kwara state, see [here] But like all so-called investigations; for every Saraki there are probably twenty more guilty parties left untouched because they have not or are unable to upset the apple cart. Saraki himself said it was vendetta against him by those uncomfortable with his emergence as senate president. He plead not guilty to all charges while investigations continue.

                                            Dr Bukola Saraki: Nigeria's Senate President